On November 12, 2013, Itar-Tass reported a conversation with Donald Trump where he said, “‘I have plans to start business in Russia… I am currently in talks with several Russian companies to build a skyscraper on the model of Trump Tower in New York.’ The businessman did not name his partners or the size of the investment.” Source

On February 10, 2014, on the Fox & Friends television show, Donald Trump claimed that Russian president Vladimir Putin contacted him while he was in Moscow for the 2013 Miss Universe pageant. Source Later, at the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump claimed that Putin had sent him a “beautiful present” at the pageant. Source